This invention relates to the continued exploration of Pythium insidiosum, its use as an antigen for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines and to isolation methods for it. In prior inventions of Dr. Alberto L. Mendoza and other co-inventors with him P. insidiosum protein was used for treatment of P. insidiosum infection in humans and other animals, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,413 of Sep. 7, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,573 of Sep. 11, 2001; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,833,136 of Dec. 21, 2004. In each instance, the fungal-like strain there used was eventually used either alone or with other cells to treat Pythiosis, both in humans and other animals. The particular fungal-like strains there used were deposited in the American Type Culture Collection under the Budapest Treaty as ATCC 74446 and/or ATCC 58643. The animals treated in those patents included humans, horses, dogs and cats. In every instance in each one of these patents an objective was to prepare a vaccine from Pythium insidiosum to provide a beneficial immunological response for treating or preventing Pythiosis. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,948,413; 6,287,573; and 6,833,136 are incorporated herein by reference.
Dr. Mendoza and his colleagues have continued working with P. insidiosum in an effort to improve upon the inventions of their earlier patents. Improvement can come in a variety of ways when dealing with vaccines. One way of improvement is in the effectiveness of specific disease treatment or prevention. Another way to improve is to widen the scope of diseases that can be effectively treated or prevented with a vaccine. A still further way to improve a vaccine is to widen the number of species that can be treated with it. The present invention has as its primary objective both widening the number of species that can be treated with P. insidiosum protein and widening the scope of diseases that can be effectively treated by modulating the immune response in an animal.
It goes without saying that there is a continuing need for vaccines that are effective and provide an efficient modulated immune response to effectively treat a variety of diseases in a variety of different species.